Understanding the Impact of Collaboration Software on Product Design and Development

Abstract

Prior research suggests that supply chain collaboration has enabled companies to compete more efficiently in a global economy. We investigate a class of collaboration software for product development called collaborative product commerce (CPC), and estimate its impact on product quality, design cycle time and development cost. We develop a theoretical framework to study the impact of CPC on product design and development. Based on data from CPC implementations in 72 firms, we test and empirically validate research hypotheses on the impact of CPC. We find that CPC implementation is associated with greater collaboration among product design teams which, in turn, have a significant positive impact on product quality and a reduction in cycle time and product development cost. Based on a subset of firms for which operational metrics were collected, we find that CPC is associated with substantial quantifiable improvements in product design quality, design turnaround times, and product development and rework costs.

Research Note—Business Value of Information Technology: Testing the Interaction Effect of IT and R&D on Tobin's Q

“…The knowledge from these experiments can be used to design new innovations that can be scaled and replicated quickly across multiple locations through digital technologies. The IS literature has largely focused on the pathways through which IT investments create value, using the resource-based view of the firm as the dominant theoretical framework to study the direct impact of IT-enabled capabilities on firm performance , Banker et al 2006, McAfee and Brynjolfsson 2008, Mithas et al 2012, Aral and Weill 2007. However, these studies largely ignore potential complementarities between IT and R&D and their joint effect on firm performance.…”

L'innovation en PME et son accompagnement par les TIC : quels effets sur la performance ?

“…Dans le contexte de l'innovation produit, Pavlou et El Sawy (2006) identifient trois situations dans lesquelles les compétences de développement de nouveaux produits peuvent être renforcées par les TIC : l'usage des systèmes de gestion de projet et gestion des ressources, l'usage des systèmes de gestion de connaissance, l'usage des systèmes de travail collaboratif. Concernant cette dernière activité, Banker et al (2006) montrent que l'utilisation des outils et logiciels collaboratifs renforce effectivement la collaboration entre les personnes chargées de l'innovation. En conséquence, cette utilisation réduit le cycle de développement, réduit les coûts de développement, accroit les possibilités de réalisations différentes et les réutilisations, et enfin améliore la qualité du produit conçu.…”

“…Notre investigation confirme et élargit donc les résultats des travaux portant sur l'utilisation de certaines technologies spécifiques comme soutien aux activités d'innovation (Pavlou et El Sawy, 2006 ;Banker et al, 2006 ;Tambe et al, 2012). Sans restreindre notre étude à des technologies déterminées ou des types d'innovations spécifiés, nous mettons en évidence un effet positif de l'innovativité des PME sur leur performance, dès lors qu'elles mobilisent des TIC pour accompagner leurs innovations, que ce soit en produits ou en procédés.…”

Using Information Systems in Innovation Networks: Uncovering Network Resources

“…It ranges from collaboration software for product design and development to project-management systems, resource-and knowledgemanagement systems, and cooperative work systems. For specific NPD activities, firms use specialized IS, such as product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, data mining tools, decision support systems, social media and virtual simulation tools (Banker, Bardhan, & Asdemir, 2006;Kleis, Chwelos, Ramirez, & Cockburn, 2012;Nambisan, 2013;Pavlou & El Sawy, 2006).…”